Sheet-feeding machine



C. E. CHRISTOPHEL.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-13.1919.

1 $365,380. Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

- 6 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITN ESSES C. E. CHRISTOPHEL.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-13.1919.

1,365,380. Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

6 SHEETSSHEET 2- INVENTOR WITNESSES c. E. CHRISTOP'HEL.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT'13. 1919.

1,365,380. Patented Jan. 11,1921.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3- INVENTOR WITNESSES (AA/(9 g C. E. CHRISTOPHEL.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1919.

1,365,380. Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4- 4/ INVENTOR WITNESSES w a C. E. CHRISTOPHEL.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE. APPLICATION men SEPT.13. I9l9.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921 6 SHEETS -SHEET 5.

Q 2 6 SE %1 atto'mw C. E. CHRISTOPHEL.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man SEPT. 13. 1919.

Patented Jan. 11, 19

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL E. CI-IRISTOPHEL, OF PEARL RIVER, NEVI YORK, ASSIGNOR TO DEXTER v FOLDER COMPANY, OF IEARL RIVER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORIL.

SHEET-FEEDING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

Application filed September 13, 1919. Serial No. 323,480.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL E. CHRIs'rorHEL, a citizen of Germany, residing at Pearl River in the county of Rockland and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Feeding Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sheet feeding machines of the character shown and described in my copending application Serial No. 221,939 filed March 12th, 1918, and in effect constitutes a continuino' application of parts of said application. The primary object of this invention is to provide improved means for correlating certain preliminary operations of a sheet feeding machine whereby the sheets are properly registered and by means of which the operation of the feeder or printing press or'both may be interrupted in case any articular sheet is not properly registered. ne of the objects of the present invention is to provide improved means for correlating the operation of an intermittently movable sheet registering means with the movement of sheet detecting means for determining whether or not the sheet has been properly registered, and with the movement of a cut-out mechanism by means of which the press or feeder or both are thrown out of action when a sheet is not properly registered. According to the preferred embodiment of my invention shown on the drawings, the invention con templates sheet grippmg aws movable into sheet gripping position during a 90 degree movement of said cam shaft; an operation of the sheet detecting device to ascertain the presence or absence of a sheet in proper' position, to be fed off and the operation of the cut-out mechanism whenever said sheet is not properly positioned According to the present invention these operations are subjected to the control of one and the same instrumentality in such a way as to preserve their cooperative relationships while making it possible to vary the relation of these operations as a group with respect to the operations of other mechanisms included in a sheet feeding machine. Other and more specific objects of invention will appear in the specification and be pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which exemplify my invention and in which- Figure l is a top plan view of one side of a sheet feeding machine constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same taken from the right of Fig. 1; v

I Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33, Fig. 1, looking toward the right;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 2, with the parts in changed positions;

Fig. 5 is a similar side elevation showing the relative positions of the parts at the beginning of the return stroke of the side registering mechanism;

- Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the side registering mechanism showing the positions 'of the parts at the end of the inward movement of said side registering mechanism.

F ig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7, Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of another embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 9 is a front elevation of one side of the same; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary front elevation showing changed positions of portions shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary top plan view of the crimping device.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive of the drawings, the sheet-feeding means includes feed tapes 1 passing at their forward ends about roller 2 which extends transversely of the machine. As shown best in Figs. 2, 4: and 5, a rod 3 which may be reciprocated by any suitable means (not shown on the drawings) is pivotally connected at 4: to a cam 5 on a cam shaft 6. The cam 5 has concentrically spaced peripheral portions 5 and 5 with an interposed notch or x recess 7. Extending radially from the shaft 6 and centrally disposed with respect to notch 7 is a rib or tooth 8 which is adapted to engage in a notch 9 formed in. a plate or segment 10 which is keyed to a rock shaft 11. The plate or segment 10 comprises two angularly arranged wings 12 with circular faces 13 which are adapted to slidably fit the circumferential portions 5 and 5 and to alternately lock the rock shaft 11 against movement for pcriods after each oscillation by the tooth 8.

The connection between the cam shaft 6 and rock shaft 11 constitutes a form of Geneva gear. Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, an irregularly shaped bracket is shown which comprises a body portion 14 with upwardly projectingbearing lugs 15 and 16 which slidably engage the rock shaft 11 so as to be ad justable longitudinally of said shaft. For this purpose, the bearing lug 16 is provided with a laterally projecting sleeve 17 which is threaded exteriorly for the reception of thumb nuts 18 and 19. Interposed between the thumb nuts 18 and 19 is the boss 20 carried by an arm or lever 21 which projects upwardly from a boss 22 which is keyed to a rod 23 which extends transversely across the machine. The boss 20 thus constitutes a fixed abutment relatively to which the bracket 14 may be adjusted by manipulating the thumb nuts 18 and 19. The bracket 14 as seen in Fig. 7, is provided with flanges 26, 26, depending on either side of guide rod 23. lVithin a recess 24 in said bracket, is reciprocably mounted a slide 27 provided with a lower flange or plate 28 and an upper flange or plate 29 which is provided in its top surface with a skew rack 30. The rack 30 meshes with a segmental skew gear 31 provided with a hub 32 which is keyed to the rock shaft 11. It will thus be understood that whenever the shaft 11 is rocked on its axis the slide 27 will be reciprocated transversely of the direction of feed imparted to a sheet by the tapes 1. The slide 27 carries a pin 33, the oppositely projecting ends thereof serving to pivot the deflected bearing portions 34 of a movable gripper jaw 35. The lower flange or plate 28 constitutes a fixed gripper jaw relatively to which said jaw 35 opens and closes. rojeeting from one of the bearing portions 34 is an arm 36 which is shown best in Figs. 10 and 11, which carries a pin 37 upon which pivots a trip lever or dog comprising a cam arm 38 provided with a roller 39-and a lever arm 40. The lever arm 40 is adapted to abut against a shoulder 41 provided on the arm 36 of the movable jaw and to force said jaw into open position in the manner to be hereinafter pointed out. Cooperating with the cam roller 39 at certain times during the operation of the machine, is a cam bar 42 provided with spaced integral plates 43 which project upwardly therefrom and by means of which said cam bar is secured to the adjustable bracket by means of screws 44. Secured to the bracket 14 is a plate or bar 45 which carries at its rear end a boss 46 in which is threaded a screw abutment 47 which is adapted to engage the arm 40 of the trip dog to force it into the position shown in Fig. 6 whenever the slide 27 is moved to its right hand extreme position. Projecting rearwardly from the left hand end of the movable jaw 35, is a pin 48 which serves to journal a roller 49 (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6). As the jaw is raised and lowered, the roller 49 serves to operate a crimping device which will now be described. EX- tending rearwardly from the bracket 14 is an arm 50 carrying aY laterally projecting pin 51 on which is pivotally mounted a crimper by means of spaced bearing lugs 52. Said crimper comprises an upper flange 53 (see Fig. 6) which is engaged by the roller 49 and a lower flange 54 which is adapted when lowered into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7, to crimp or warp a sheet along its edge which is being moved to a gage and thus to stiifenit to resist the impact due to its momentum. The thumb screw which is threaded in the crimper is adapted to adjustably engage a flange or lug 56 which projects laterally from the arm 50 of the bracket, thus adapting the crimper to be held in raised position on either side of the machine. A sheet gage 57 is secured by screws 58 to the bracket 14 and partakes of the adjustments of said bracket. Means are provided for imparting a normal tendency to press the movable jaw down onto the fixed jaw of the gripper by a spring 59 which is secured at one end to a pin 60 rigid with the bracket 14 and at its other end is engaged by a pin 61 carried by a knurled nut 62 provided with notches 63 by means of which said nut may be engaged by radial pins 64 carried by the pin 33 which moves with the movable jaw. The tension on said movable j aw may thus be adjusted to meet requirements.

Referring now to Figs. 2 to 5, the cam 5 is provided with an annular slot 66 within which is adjustably mounted. a bolt 67 which is threaded to receive a clamping nut 68 on one side of the cam 5 while on the outer face of the cam it carries a lug or abutment 69 which is adapted at certain times to engage a lug or shoulder 70 on a bar 71. Said bar 71 is pivotally mounted at 7 2 on the upper arm of a lever 73 which is pivoted on a stud 74, the lower arm of said lever being pivotally connected at 7 5 with the forward end of the rod 76 which is adapted to operate a trip-off mechanism (not shown on the drawings). The forward end of the bar 71 rests upon a pin 77 which projects laterally from a lever arm 78 which is keyed to a transverse shaft 79. Depending from the shaft 7 9'is a lever arm 80 from which is pivi otally suspended at 81 on either side of the machine, a detector linger 82 which is adapted to engage in the hole or depression 83 in the front plate 84 whenever a sheet does not cover such opening or depression. Projecting upwardly and rearwardly from the shaft 79 is a cam arm 85 which carries a roller 86 which normally engages the cam 5 when the holes or depressions 83 are covered by a sheet. Whenever such holes are not covered by a sheet, the detector fingers 82 catch thereon as shown in Fig. 5, so that the cam roller 86 is prevented from following into the inner run 87 of the cam 5. The cam 5 is also provided with an intermediate run 88 into which a cam roller 89 is adapted to follow at certain times. Said cam roller 89 is carried by a cam arm 90 which is keyed to a rock shaft 91 which also carries a lever arm 92 in the outer end of which is mounted an adjustable abutment 93 which is adapted to rest on the cam shaft 6. A spring 9 1 is connected at opposite ends to the cam arms 85 and 90 and thus serves to draw these arms toward the cam 5. Rock shaft 91 is adapted to operate a combined slowdown and crimping device which will now be described. On either side of the machine or on both sides thereof, the rock shaft 91 according to'the present embodiment of my invention, carries a bifurcated crim ing device 95 with forwardly projecting fihgers 96 which are adapted to be raised and lowered by the 0s cillations of the rock shaft 91. Cooperating therewith is an upper crimping device or finger 97, said upper finger being carried by a bracket 98 which is secured by a set screw 99 on the stationary cam shaft 6. In Figs. 2 and 5, is shown a front sheet gage 100. The operation of the feeding mechanism will now be readily understood and briefly described is as follows:

As a sheet is fed forwardly by the tapes 1, the rock shaft 11 is oscillated by the Geneva connection with cam 5 to move the reciprocatory gripper inwardly. At the end of its last outward movement, the dog 38 has been moved into vertical position shown in Fig. 6, thus raising the movable gripper jaw 35 so that the sheet in its forward movement passes between said jaws. These movements are brought about by the cam 5 moving in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2, the process of rocking shaft 11 being shown in Fig. 4, fter which the open jaws remain in their innermost position for a brief period of time. At the same time the movement of said cam 5 has permitted the rock shaft 91 to move the lower crimping ele ments of the front crimpers into the position shown in Fig. 7, the relative positions of the crimping elements being shown in Fig. 9. As the sheet moves forward the retardation is gradually increased until it slows down and comes into engagement with the front gage100. At the same time, the sheet becomes warped in such a way as to form reinforcing flutings which strengthen it to resist the impact on gage 100. As the cam 5 begins its return movement in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 4, the front edge crimpers release the sheet, after which a return oscillation is imparted to the rock shaft 11 which in turn moves the slide 27 outwardly. At the commencement of this movement, the dog 38 is displaced by its engagement with the cam bar 42 and thus releases the movable gripper 35 which falls upon the sheet and clamps it to the fixed gripper jaw to move it laterally toward the side gage. As the movable jaw drops, the lateral crimper falls into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6, in which its lower flange 54 depresses a portion of the sheet be low its plane of movement and as the lateral edge continues its movement the retarding tendency thereof gradually increases until it is brought to a full stop against the side gage. At the end of its outward movement, the dog 38 is again forced into position to open the gripper when after a brief period of rest during which the sheet is drawn from the feeder, the same operation is repeated.

According to the embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11, a connecting rod 110 transmits power to an arm 111 which is rigid with but offset from the cam 112. The cam 112 is provided with a rib or tooth 113 which is centrally located with respect to an angular notch 114 to adapt said cam to impart a periodic 90 degree oscillation to the plate or segment 115 which is keyed to the periodic rock shaft 116 which transmits the lateral reciprocatory movements to the side registering mechanism. Said side registering mechanism includes a laterally adjustable bracket 133 provided with upwardly presented bearing lugs 11'? and 118 which are slidable along the shaft 116. Projecting laterally from the lug 117, is a threaded sleeve 119 upon which are threaded nuts 120 and 121'. lnterposeil between these nuts is the bearing boss 122 of an arm 123 which projects upwardly from a boss 12% secured to a stay shaft 125. Said laterally adjustable bracket is also provided with an integral shoe or slide 126 which is substantially U-shaped below for retaining it in position on the stay shaft 125. Projecting inwardly from the adjustable bracket, is a pin 127 (see Fig. 9) upon which is journaled a crimping element com-- prising a lower crimping flange 128 and an upper crimping flange 129 which is engaged by the forward end of a movable gripper jaw 130 which pivots at 131 upon a jaw or slide 132 which reciprocates in the adjustable bracket 133. Said movable jaw has an outwardly extending arm 13 1 which carries a pin 135 upon which is pivotally mounted a cam lever comprising a cam arm 136 and a trip arm 137. The displacement of this cam lever in a clockwise direction, is limited by a stop pin 138, the movement of the gripper toward the left according to Fig. 9, causing said cam arm 136 to drag over a cam bar 139 which holds the jaws open throughout this movement. Toward the end of the inward movement of the sheet registering gripper, the arm 13? of the cam lever is engaged by a dog 1 10 which is mounted on bracket 133 and thrown into the position shown in Fig. 10. This operation permits the movable jaw 130 to close immediately upon the sheet which is gripped and moved laterally into engagement with a side register gage 1 11 which is mounted on bracket 133. At the same time, the crimping device has been permitted to drop into active position so that the lateral edge of the sheet is crimped as it is brought up against the side register gage 14:1. Suitable means for releasing a sheet from the gripper is provided by a second dog 1&2 mounted on the bracket 138 in suitable position for intercepting arm 137 of the cam lever and returning said cam lever to the position shown in Fig. 9. The sheet gripping and sheet releasin operations are thus rendered positive in their actions and accurately timed with respect to the other movements which are coordinately controlled by cam 112. As shown in Fig. 9, the slide 182 is provided above with skew rack teeth with which meshes a skew gear segment 143, said segment being provided with a hub 141-4 which is keyed to rock shaft 116. As shown in Fig. 8, the cam 112 is pro vided with an inner run 1 15 on to which a cam roller 1416 is adapted to travel, said cam roller being journaled on a pin 1&7 carried by a cam arm 1&8 which is keyed to an oscillatory shaft 1-19. Keyed to the shaft 149 is a depending arm 150 to which is pivotally connected one end of a detector finger 151 which is adapted to fall into a hole 152 in the front plate 153 whenever a sheet 154 fails to cover said hole 152. Such a condition usually arises from an imperfect feeding operation and for this reason the detector 151 is made to bring about the stoppage of the feeder as well as of the printing press or other machine to which the feeder is connected. For this purpose, a lever arm 155 carries a pin 156 upon which is journaled a roller 157. Bearing on the roller 157, is a leaf spring 158 which is secured to a bar 159, said bar being pivotally mounted at one end on a pin 160 mounted in the upper arm of a cut'out lever 161. The cut-out lever 161 is fulcrumed on a pin 162 and carries a pin 163 by means of which it may be pivotally connected to a connecting rod which operates the cut-out mechanism. On its forward end, the bar 159 is provided with a lug 164: which is adapted to be moved by the rise and fall of roller 157 into and out of the path of a block 165. Said block 165 is adjustably mounted on the cam 112 by means of a bolt 166 which may be adjusted in a slot 167 and secured in any desired position. The advantages of this construction will now be readily understood from the following explanation.

Especially in high speed machines, it is important to have the recurring operations of a feeding machine, take place in ac curately timed periods. According to the present invention, the sheet registering gripper, sheet detector, and the latch or cut-out for tripping the press or other machine, are all positively controlled by the same cam and hence the time periods of these different mechanisms are accurately and positively related to each other. It will be seen that a single connecting rod may thus be employed to drive the cam so that no matter what changes are made between the connecting rod and other parts of the feeder or press, the relative positions and time periods of side gage, sheet detector and tripping ofl' latch will be positively maintained. The use of the Geneva gear between cam and rock shaft, provides an accurate side register movement, while at the same time positively locking the side register gripper in its opposite extremes of movement during other functional operations of said cam.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described, a rock shaft, a cam shaft, Geneva gearing connecting said shafts, said Gen va gearing being adapted to hold said rock shaft at rest during some periods of the cam shafts movements, sheet registering means connected to said rock shaft, sheet-detecting means operated by said Geneva gearing, and cut-out mechanism under the control of said sheet-detecting means and movable into and out of position to be operated by said Geneva gearing.

2. In a machine of the character described, a sheet gage, a gripper for moving a sheet up to said sheet gage, a rock shaft for imparting the movements to said sheet gripper, a cam shaft for driving said rock shaft, a Geneva gear connecting said shafts, a sheet detector operatably connected to said cam, and means under the control of said detector for stopping the machine.

.8. In a machine of the character described, the combination with sheet-registering means, of sheet-detecting means, and means including a lost motion connection for cooperatively moving said sheet-registering means and sheet-detecting means, cutout mechanism, and means under the control of said sheet detecting means for operating said cut-out mechanism.

4:. In a machine of the character described, sheet-feeding means, a sheet-gripper, a drive shaft, a power transmitting shaft for operating said gripper, and means operatably connecting said shafts to periodically drive said transmission shaft, said operating connections being adapted to hold said transmission shaft stationary between the periods of operation.

5. In a machine of the character described, sheet-feeding means, a sheetgripper, a rock shaft for operating said gripper, a cam shaft, a cam'on said cam shaft having spaced peripheral concentric portions and a tooth intermediate thereto and projecting radially beyond said portions, a plate keyed to said rock shaft with spaced recessed portions adapted to alternately slidably interlock with said concentric portions of the cam and an intermediate notch adapted to be periodicallyengaged by said tooth.

6. In a machine of the character described, a cam shaft, a rock shaft, Geneva gearing connecting said shafts, a sheet gripper operated by said rock shaft, and sheet-feeding means for delivering sheets to said gripper.

7. In a machine of the character described, a cam shaft, a rock shaft, Geneva gearing connecting said shafts, a sheet gripper operated by said rock shaft, sheet-feeding means for delivering sheets to said gripper, a sheetdetecting instrumentality periodically operated by said cam, and trip-off mechanism under the control of said instrumentality.

8. In a machine of the character described, a trip-off mechanism including a member movable into and out of position to be operated, a periodically moved instrunientality for engaging said member in operative position, a plate over which sheets are fed, said plate being provided with a hole, and a sheet-detecting finger for controlling the movement of said member, said finger slidably engaging said plate and adapted to engage said hole in the absence of a sheet.

9. In a machine of the character described, a trip-off mechanism including a member movable into and out of position to be operated, a periodically moved instrumentality for engaging said member in operative position, means for moving said member, a sheet detector moved by said member moving means over the surface of a sheet or in the path thereof, and means disposed in the path of said detector for blocking its movement in the absence of a sheet.

10. In a machine of the character described, sheet-feeding means, a sheet-gripper, a drive shaft, a power transmitting shaft for operating said gripper, means operatably connecting said shafts to periodically drive said transmission shaft, said opcrating connections being adapted to hold said transmission shaft stationary between the periods of operation, sheet-detecting means operated by said drive shaft and movable in the path of or over a sheet, and cutout mechanism including an element under the control of said sheet-detecting means for operatably connecting said cutout mechanism to said connecting means.

11. In a machine of the character described, sheet-feeding means, a sheet-gripper, a rock shaft for operating said gripper, a cam shaft, a cam on said cam shaft having spaced eripheral concentric portions and a tooth intermediate thereto and projecting radially beyond said portions, a plate keyed to said rock shaft with spaced recessed portions adapted to alternately slidably interlock with said concentric portions of the cam and an intermediate notch adapted to be periodically engaged by said tooth, sheet detecting means, and cut-out mechanism including an element movable into and out of position to be operated by said cam.

12. In a machine of the character described, a cam shaft, a rock shaft, Geneva gearing connecting said shafts, a sheet gripper operated by said rock shaft, sheetfeeding means for delivering sheets to said gripper, sheet-detecting means, and means operated by said Geneva gearing under the control of said sheet-detecting means for cuttin out the machine.

13. 11 a machine of the character described, an oscillatory cam provided with a lug or projection, a trip-off mechanism including a bar provided with a shoulder movable into and out of the path of said lug or projection, sheet-controlled means for moving said bar, a sheet gripper, and means including a Geneva gear for connecting said gripper to said cam.

14. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a cam, of a sheet detector movable by said cam in the path of or over the surface of a sheet, cutout mechanism including an element movable into and out of position to be operated by said cam, and means operated by said cam for moving said element into position to be operated by said cam.

CARL E. CHRISTOPI-IEL. 

